'Preparing My Whole Career' - Bengals WR Colbie Young Excited for Opportunity After Iosivas Surgery

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Colbie Young recorded his first career catch Sunday in the team’s 20-6 win against the Houston Texans.

But his first career souvenir will have to wait.

“I didn’t keep the catch ball,” he said, referring to the one he snared for snared for 7 yards in the first quarter Sunday.

“When the touchdown comes, I’ll definitely keep that one,” he added.

His chances of catching that first touchdown increased Wednesday when the Bengals placed wide receiver Andrei Iosivas on Injured Reserve after undergoing surgery to repair ligament damage in one of his thumbs.

Iosivas will miss at least three games, and head coach Zac Taylor said it will be a weeks issue and not season long.

Young, the rookie fourth-round pick from Georgia, and Dohnte Meyers, the CFL import who was the feelgood story of training camp, are expected to pick up the bulk of Iosivas’ snaps.

Bengals WRs Young, Meyers with big opportunity after Iosivas surgery

Iosivas played 39 snaps (61 percent) in the season opener against Tampa Bay, and he logged 32 (53 percent) Sunday at Houston.

He had three catches for 19 yards in the two games combined, though Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said Iosivas’ value extends beyond target volume.

“Andrei did a lot for us,” Burrow said. “In the run game, he was dependable, really good third receiver, so you can't just replace him with one guy. It'll be by committee for sure.”

The Bengals likely will activate pass-catching tight end Tanner Hudson from the practice squad to fill the open roster spot.

And tight end Mike Gesicki could end up taking the bulk of Iosivas’ snaps in the slot.

“Several guys can step up, whether it's in the receiver room, tight end room,” Taylor said. “There's a lot of ways we're going to fulfill that, but we have guys that will step up. They're going to be given more opportunity, and (we) expect those guys to step up and fill those shoes.”

Young played nine snaps against the Buccaneers and 10 Sunday in Houston.

If Young or Meyers are able to score Sunday against the Steelers, they would become the 18th player in team history to catch a touchdown pass in one of the first three games of first season.

The others (with year, season game number):

Darnay Scott (1994, 1)

Ron Dugan (2000, 1)

Jermaine Gresham (2010, 1)

A.J. Green (2011, 1)

Ja’Marr Chase (2021, 1)

Warren McVea (1968, 2)

Bruce Coslet (1969, 2)

Speedy Thomas (1969, 2)

Stan Fritts (1975, 2)

Don Bass (1978, 2)

Eddie Brown (1985, 2)

Melvin Tuten (1995, 2)

Chris Henry (2005, 2)

Giovani Bernard (2013, 2)

Cris Collinsworth (1981, 3)

Chad Johnson (2001, 3)

Tee Higgins (2020, 3)

Young said his No. 1 goal is to establish trust with Burrow, then let everything else take care of itself.

“I feel like he trusts me, and I trust him,” Young said. “I feel like we’re gonna be on a roll. I’ve been preparing my whole career so far, so I’m ready to go work.”

Young said he didn’t find out about Iosivas until today. He sent him a text with him a speedy recovery.

“It’s so unfortunate that he goes down like that with the role he had in this offense,” Young added. “I just want to be where I need to be, show up every day, eliminate MAs (missed assignments) and know the offense like (Iosivas) does.”

Iosivas is in his fourth season with Burrow and the Bengals offense.

Meyers and Young have four games combined.

Burrow said communication will be key whenever those two step onto the field.

“We have a lot of different personnel packages, so there will be constant communication in the huddle about what position a guys is, what route does he have, what’s his responsibility on this play?” Burrow said. “We’ll talk through a lot of different situations in practice that will come up more so than with ‘Yosh’ because we have a lot of reps banked with each other.

“But those guys are smart, capable and have some unique skill sets at that position. There’s a lot of different things we can do with those guys.”

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